What If?, an exhibition of art and design by emerging talent on the City Lit Foundation Diploma, featured projects by 36 artists, designers and makers and presented the culmination of their study on this rich and rewarding course. Each work was developed from an intense period of creative research, exploration, experimentation and production, and reflected the individual concerns and concepts of the exhibitors.

City Lit recently caught up with two students on the course, Hesi and Jesse, to find out what they’d learned from their time on the diploma, and their experiences studying at City Lit…

Hesi Glowacki

Hesi explored a range of different options before deciding City Lit was the best choice to develop his interest in art, attracted by both the college’s Central London location and the structure of the course.

Hesi’s piece for the What If? Exhibition is entitled ‘Abandoned Rituals’ and comprises paintings around pagan rituals. He has particularly enjoyed the collaborative mood offered by the course, even from the initial interview process, benefiting from the constructive advice offered by both students and staff alike at every stage of the diploma.

He will miss the friendly, relaxed atmosphere of the classes and the people he has met during his time at City Lit, and is now considering several offers as he looks to continue his studies in fine art.

Jesse Finlay

Jesse previously studied art at college but didn’t particularly enjoy her experiences there, eventually starting evening courses to reignite her passion for the subject. She heard about City Lit via word of mouth from a friend of her father, and was particularly attracted by the mixed age profiles of her classmates, not wanting to be solely surrounded by younger students.

Her final project for the What If? Exhibition is ‘Traces of Memory’, looking at how memories are changed by others’ views of them. Jesse is interested in sensory memory prompts, and has explored the concept in print and ceramics. She has relished the group crit aspect to the course, feeding off other students and opening her mind up to fellow students’ differing approaches to their own work.

Jesse believes the most enjoyable aspect of her course was having the time to do something for herself, and has now applied for university to continue her passion for art, and ceramics in particular.